Computer-based trading card system and method

ABSTRACT

A collection system using a computer or smart device system wherein the collection items (or more specifically their unlocking keys) are contained in various floppy disks and/or an optical storage drive and/or are obtainable through a network connection. With the collection items in the computer or smart device system, the icons of the collection items appear on the computer monitor or other display. By (double) clicking on or otherwise selecting the icon, the unlocking key unlocks the corresponding collection item in the program into the hard drive and at the same time the unlocking key is rendered inoperative. A generally reverse process can be used to lock the collection item relative to the hard drive and render the unlocking key operative. The user collects the collection items by unlocking, for example using a number of floppy disks, the locks in his/her program, which contains the corresponding locks for all of the collection items in the set. When the entire set or a predetermined subset thereof has been collected, the program allows the user to play an interactive game related to the collection items. The user can also enjoy a video and/or audio presentation contained in the disk and/or the program and/or off the Internet associated with each of the keys (and thereby the corresponding collection items), the collection items themselves or the game by appropriate selection. That is, instead of the prior art system of trading paper cards or the like, the user herein trades the digital files, the floppy disks or the portable optical storage discs to collect the collection items and games, and advantageously can enjoy audio/visual presentations and interactive computer games also associated with the collected items.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/540,209, filedOct. 6, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,561, and whose entire contents arehereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Through the years, people and especially children have enjoyedcollecting various things as a game, a hobby, a competition, a lesson orfor other reasons. In early times they collected stones, animal or plantparts or other things found in nature. Later it was also manufactureditems such as marbles, toys, memorabilia, coins or stamps. Morerecently, collecting WACKY PACKS (cult stickers with humorous (sometimesghoulish humor) corrupted pictures of common trademarked products) andPOGS (a bottle cap type of game) have been popular. Over the pasthundred or so years and continuing today, trading card collecting hasbeen extremely popular and the more popular of them have been baseballtrading cards sold in packs or in a package with another producttypically bubble gum. The cards each have a baseball player picturedthereon with his playing statistics and a brief write-up on him. Thecollector, typically children, would seek to collect a desired set ofcards, which could be all of the players on a certain team, his/herfavorite players, or the more rare and desired and thus valuable cards.In fact, some cards are so desirable that they have sold for many tensof thousands of dollars.

To obtain the desired cards the collector can purchase them from theoriginal source if still available and/or can trade his/her lessdesirable cards with other collectors for his/her desired cards. Thenegotiating and interactions with other collectors is a big attractionto the collection activity. While in the past and typically now thetrading takes place informally with just two or a few people gatheredtogether, large trading conventions attracting tens of thousands ofpeople have been held to attempt to satisfy the growing tradinginterest, needs and demands. In other words, people are continuallylooking for different items to collect, and different more entertainingways of trading and collecting, and this invention is directed to atleast partially satisfying those needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Disclosed herein is a computer-based collection and trading system,providing a unique and flexible system for trading, displaying andenjoying collectible items. Instead of being contained on paper tradingcards (or stamps or the like) as often found in the prior art, thecollectible items of the present invention are contained on standard31/2" floppy disks or optical storage media discs or stored on anInternet server and accessible (downloadable) from the Worldwide Web,and the children (or adults) then trade the floppies (or disks)themselves instead of the paper cards. To view the collectible items ona floppy, and each floppy would typically have one or more andpreferably six items therein, the floppy is inserted into a compatiblepersonal computer and the floppy program run. To view collectible itemson the Worldwide Web, the appropriate website would be accessed using aWeb browser and the chosen items downloaded to the user's personalcomputer. For each collectible item, an associated audio/visual displayon the computer would be available to be accessed and enjoyed ifdesired.

The collectible items can be "transferred" from the floppies or from theWeb to a portable optical storage medium (such as a CD ROM/DVD ROM)program on that computer for further display, collecting and interactivegame playing. The program is like an album for the cards, providing aneat, organized and enjoyable method of storing and retrieving the cardsand accompanying software. The game playing is preferably possible onlyafter the entire set of collectible items or one or more predeterminedsubsets thereof have been collected, using the program. This provides agreater incentive to collect the entire set.

The collectible items are individually "transferred" from the floppiesor the Web to the hard drive using a system of encryption/decryptionalgorithms. When transferred from a floppy, the item is disabled fromthat floppy so that the floppy cannot be used again to transfer thatitem to another computer system (unless the item has been transferredback to it from the hard drive). The item can be transferred from thehard drive only to that floppy (or a similar disabled floppy having thatalgorithm), as when the user wants to trade the item on the floppy toanother collector. As each collectible key or code is located on afloppy, it is selected by the user, locked and dimmed on that floppy,its key code updated to a preferences file on the host computer systemand then unlocked on the companion collection program. That is, the keyhas been dimmed from use on the floppy and lit on the optical storagemedium via the computer system. All remaining keys remain intact on thefloppy disk, available for trading to another collector. Once all thecards in a particular series are collected (unlocked from the opticalstorage medium to the hard drive), an interactive game is decrypted forthe collector-user to play and enjoy.

As further protection and deterrence against unauthorized copying, eachfloppy disk case includes affixed thereon a unique hologram and a uniqueserial number.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become moreapparent to those persons having ordinary skill in the art to which thepresent invention pertains from the foregoing description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of equipment used in a computer-basedcollection system of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a collection system and method of the presentinvention using the equipment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the lower left portion of the flow chartof FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a first screen display of the present invention on the monitorshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a second screen display;

FIG. 6 is a third screen display;

FIG. 7 is a front view of one of the floppy disks of the system of FIG.1, shown enlarged and in isolation;

FIG. 8 is a rear view of the disk of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an alternative system of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The present invention can be incorporated in portable optical storagesystems such as CD ROM and DVD ROM. Aside from DVD ROM, other opticalR/W media can be used, as well as various incarnations of DVD includingDIVEX. Another embodiment includes interaction with content housed on aWebsite which contains additional collectible items and/or enhancementsto items contained on the floppies or optical storage discs.

Digital video disc or DVD is a video distribution medium for digitalvideo that has superior audio and video quality, interactivity anddistribution control. DVD is a new medium for the distribution of from4.7 to 17 billion bytes of digital data on a 120-mm (4.75 inch) disc.This huge volume of data (today's CD can store 680 million bytes ofdata) can be used to store up to nine hours of broadcast quality videoand multi-channel surround-sound audio, highly interactive multimediacomputer programs, thirty hours of CD-quality audio, or anything elsethat can be represented as digital data. A DVD looks like today's CD; itis a silvery platter, 4.75 inches in diameter, with a hole in thecenter. Like a CD, data is recorded on the disc in a spiral trail oftiny pits, and the discs are read using a laser beam. The DVD's largercapacity is achieved by making the pits smaller and the spiral tighter,and by recording the data in as many as four layers, two on each side ofthe disc.

In other words, DVDs can store up to 17 billion bytes of data on a120-mm (4.75 inch) platter. That is enough data for up to nine hours ofbroadcast quality audio and video. The digital nature of this new mediaoffers options unknown in the analog world, including interactivity,simultaneous multiple language support, parental control, multiplecamera angles, and pay-per-view. The video and audio quality deliveredby this medium, based on MPEG-2 digital video and Dolby AC3 or MPEG-2digital audio, is the best ever available to consumers. Other digitalvideo delivery systems, including direct broadcast satellite, wirelesscable and digital cable, use the same digital video technology as DVD.Consequently, one or more of these applications may "converge" with theDVD player.

Nearly all personal computers are sold with a CD-ROM drive. When CD-ROMwas first proposed in 1986, 680 Mbytes was many times the capacity of atypical hard disk drive, and there were no programs that wouldcompletely fill a CD. This is no longer true. Many personal computerscome with disk drives that hold over a gigabyte of data, and many gameswith multimedia content are too big to fit on a single CD.

Consequently, personal computer makers are looking forward to puttingDVD-ROM drives into PCs, and when they do so, adding a DVD video decoderis all that is necessary to bring DVD's excellent video and audio to thePC for entertainment, games, education, training and promotionalapplications.

Movie content owners are concerned about DVD movie playback on the PC.If the decryption of the movie data is done by the computer's centralprocessor, then decrypted data could be stored on one of those largehard disk drives that many PCs possess. Once there, the data could beeasily copied on to another media. Three schemes have been proposed toprevent copying as discussed below.

(1) Eliminate the "Save As" function from "Movie Player" applications.This scheme is simple to implement, but not too difficult to circumvent.Some Hollywood studios want stronger safeguards.

(2) Modify the computer's basic operating system such that it willrecognize DVD data and prevent copying by any application running on thecomputer. All of the major and many of the independent film studiosapprove of this scheme, but modifying operating systems is not trivial."Windows 97" will purportedly implement this feature sometime in 1998.

(3) Arrange the computer hardware such that the DVD data never flowsover the main bus (PCI Bus), which prevents it from being decrypted bythe CPU and recorded on a hard disk or tape. As will be discussed later,FIG. 7 is a block diagram of such a PC, which shows the relationship ofthe subsystems. In addition to making copying difficult, this system ispotentially the most efficient, keeping both compressed and uncompressedaudio and video data from overloading the PC's main bus.

While a DVD system has been discussed above, the present invention canbe embodied in any form of optical storage.

Computer equipment of a system of the present invention is showngenerally at 30 in FIG. 1. The equipment includes a computer hard drive32, a floppy disc drive 34, a display monitor 36, a keyboard 38, a mouse40 and speakers 42, 44. The minimum equipment specifications and systemsoftware requirements 48 are MPC Level 2 or higher or MAC 68040 orhigher. The requirements are itemized in detail later in thisdisclosure. Also, periodically throughout this disclosure prior artpatents are referenced, and each of their entire disclosures isincorporated herein by reference.

A portable optical storage disc containing a program of this inventionis installed in the optical storage drive 52 in a known manner. Thecollection items and associated programs to interact with the programare played and installed into the hard drive 32 by using floppy disksinserted individually into the disk drive 34. More than one floppy diskis preferably needed for this system, and three are pictured in FIG. 1at 56, 58, 60.

The portable optical storage program includes all of the collectibleitems in the set of collectible items. However, they are all "locked"and cannot be accessed and unlocked into the hard drive 32 unless theunlocking "keys" are accessed and used. A separate key is provided foreach of the locked items, and the keys are provided on the floppy disks56, 58, 60. The number of items in the set of collectible items will beat least two and preferably and more likely many tens or hundreds,depending on the program. Each floppy disk 56, 58, 60 will have at leastone key and more likely a plurality of keys such as six keys.

Although there can be floppies having identical keys, most floppies willhave different groups of keys. For example, floppy 56 can have keys A,B, C, D, E and F (for corresponding collection items), floppy 58 canhave keys D, E, F, G, H and I, and floppy 60 can have keys B, C, D, G, Hand I. In this brief example, key A appearing on only one floppy may bethe most valuable and thus most tradable and key D appearing on allthree floppies may be the least valuable. The portable optical storageprogram game (to be discussed later) may make certain keys more valuableeven if more common due to the use of the corresponding item in thegame. Also, certain keys may be more valuable because of thedesirability of the associated item.

The "keys" on the floppy discs 56, 58, 60 unlock the "locks" of theprogram and individually unlock the collection items onto the hard drive32 using dual-encryption code technology. More particularly, the programcontains the complete set of encryption/decryption algorithms or"private keys" as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 generally at 70, and the floppycontains a complementary set of encryption/decryption algorithms or"public keys", as shown generally at 72. (See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,442,706to Kung and 5,343,527 to Moore). The public and private keys 70, 72 arecombined shown generally at 74 via standard multimedia computerequipment as depicted in FIG. 1 to unlock the private media and lock thepublic media This is accomplished via an encryption/decryption algorithmwhich allows the user to effectively unlock media on the optical storagedrive 52 and lock the media on the floppy disks 56, 58, 60.

The system (30) is operated (or the game is played) referring to FIG. 2as follows:

(1) the portable optical storage program is loaded onto the opticalstorage disc drive 52 by inserting the disk 54 into the drive in aconventional manner; at this time all of the collection items are lockedrelative to the hard drive 32;

(2) the user acquires a (31/2") floppy disk 56 having a floppy diskprogram including at least one of the coded keys 72 (for unlocking thecorresponding collection item(s)) and inserts it into the disk drive 34as shown in the flow chart by step 80, and the disk appears on thedesktop of the monitor 36, as shown by step 84;

(3) using the mouse 40 the user clicks twice to open the disk and revealthe program icon, as shown by step 88, and double clicks on the programicon to launch the application, as shown by step 92;

(4) alternatively, pursuant to another method, the floppy disk 56instantly mounts and launches into an audio (via the speakers 42, 44)and visual (via the display monitor 36) opening presentation beginningwith opening credits and resolving into an opening main screen display,as shown by step 100; the main screen 102 has "Main Menu" and "MoreInfo" buttons 106, 108 which are depicted in FIG. 4;

(5) clicking on the "More Info" button 108 reveals a screen (notseparately shown in the drawings) with explanatory information, andalternatively clicking on the "Main Menu" button 106 produces thegraphical icon display, as shown in FIG. 5 generally at 114, and havingthe six graphical icons 120, 122, 124, 126, 128, 130 (the six tradingcards), a "Quit" button 134, a flashing "Make a Selection" message 136and a title 138; this is shown by step 142 in FIG. 2;

(6) clicking on the Quit button 134, quits the application as shown bystep 144 and results in an exit audio/visual display as shown by step146;

(7) instead of step (6), clicking on the desired icon (trading card), asshown by step 148, produces the display 150 of FIG. 6, which is anenlarged view of the back side of that card with another picture 154 ofthe player, his name 156, his statistics 158 and a brief bio 160;alternatively, or in addition to the picture, name, statistics, etc., anaudio/visual presentation can be presented following the clicking onbuttons 120, 122, 124, 126, 128 or 130; the display 150 also includes a"Main Menu" button 166 (which when clicked on takes the user back todisplay 114 of FIG. 5), an "Add to Collection" button 168 and a title170; the appearance of display 150 can be accompanied with an audioand/or audio/visual display as shown by step 180;

(8) clicking on the relevant button such as the "Add to Collection"button 168, as shown by step 184, activates the unique code (orencryption/decryption algorithm) for that graphical icon (or tradingcard or collection item) as shown by step 188, and unlocks the firstcollection item from the floppy disk on to the hard drive 32; in otherwords, before clicking on the "Add to Collection" button 168, theportable optical storage program had not been accessed or even need bepresent; rather, the user can enjoy the audio and visual presentationsof the screens 114 and 150 of FIGS. 5 and 6 simply through the programson the floppies 56 (58, 60) when loaded into the computer;

(9) as the first collection item (120) is unlocked from the floppy diskinto the hard drive 32, the first coded key 74 on the floppy 56 isrendered inoperative; that is, it is incapable of unlocking acorresponding first collection item in a similar optical storageprogram; in the display 114 of FIG. 5 it is dimmed, as shown by theother five graphical icons;

(10) after step (9), by clicking on the dimmed icon button, the firstcollection item can be "transferred" back to the first floppy 56, as forexample when the user wants to trade (or sell) the first collection item(or more specifically the first coded key, etc.) with another person;when it is transferred back, the first collection item is (re)lockedrelative to the hard drive 32 and the first coded key (74) is renderedoperative, using the encryption/decryption code, and goes from dim tobright as in the display of FIG. 5; instead of transferring it back tothat specific first floppy 56, it can be transferred to another floppy,such as 58 or 60, which has a similar inoperative first coded key; allsubsequent steps outlined below will presume that the first collectionitem has not been relocked;

(11) other collection items are unlocked as desired using othercorresponding coded keys on the first floppy disk 56 and the firstfloppy disk removed from the disk drive 34;

(12) second, third and so forth floppy disks (58, 60) are inserted inthe disk drive 34, and further collection items unlocked using the codedkeys thereon, as available and desired;

(13) the portable optical storage program includes an interactive game194 (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,258 to Wilson et al.), which can only beplayed after all or one or more specific subsets of the collection itemshave been unlocked as shown by the key library 196; that is andreferring to FIGS. 2 and 3, all of the library keys 196 have beencollected; to access this game, the portable optical storage disc hasits own interface which when presently mounted on the computer systemshows a tally of the keys collected and the remaining keys to becollected before the game is activated; the user double clicks on theportable optical storage icon or it mounts instantly, revealing a mainscreen which shows the tally and remaining keys; when the remaining keyshave been collected an additional interface becomes active which allowsaccess to the supporting interactive game within the collection series;the program can contain a number of games accessed when differentcollections, subsets or libraries of keys 196 have been collected orcollection items unlocked;

(14) after playing the game 194, the user clicks on a quit button ofthat screen to return to the main screen 102, as shown by step 198, orreturn to their collection; and

(15) thereafter, other collection items can be unlocked or transferredback as described above, other games played as the program permits,and/or collection items (or their coded keys) traded with others bytrading the floppy disks containing them (as shown in FIG. 9) by arrows199.

In other words, when a disk 56 is inserted into the floppy disk drive34, the information contained on the disk can be viewed but the softwarelocked thereto cannot be removed or copied. The user must click (step146) on the chosen cards (graphical icons) (120) to send their uniqueunlock code/key 74 to the companion optical storage media 72. That cardis then dimmed (locked or rendered inoperative) on the floppy 56 asshown in FIG. 5 and lit (unlocked) on the portable optical storageprogram. A preferences file is created and housed on the hard drive 32,hidden within the system folder. This file tells the optical storagemedia drive which keys have been collected and which icons areeffectively unlocked.

An alternative embodiment includes after selecting "Main Menu" 106, theuser being presented with a list of choices as shown in FIG. 5 includinga "Special Features" button 199a and a "Play Movie" button 199b. Byclicking on "Special Features" button 199a, user is presented with asubsequent screen (not shown). This screen presents additionalinformation related to the collectible or the game such as audio/visualpresentation, text information, web site links or secreted information("Easter Eggs"). Clicking on the "Play Movie" button 199b causes a movieor other audio/visual presentation stored on the optical storage disc tobe played.

Referring to FIG. 3, the encryption/decryption system controls access tomedia assets. By controlling access, a game can be made of theacquisition and trading of access keys and the access to the mediafiles. By collecting keys 196, media is unlocked on the system.Possibilities are available for having nested keys that once having beengathered can provide a composite key that will allow access to alternatemedia files or collector bonuses and allow for multi-stage collectibleexperiences.

More specifically, access keys are stored in two portions--one on amaster medium element, such as a portable optical storage medium 72, andthe other on copy-protected floppy diskettes 56. Both keys are requiredto unlock a medium file 74. A lock may be moved from the floppy disk 56to a table on a hard disk drive 32 or network server. The processphysically removes the key portion from the floppy diskette 56 andplaces that encrypted key into the table 196, which is normally filledwith encrypted dummy keys. The actual keys are hashed into the tableusing a proprietary algorithm. Also part of the key is based upon adefect table held in the FAT (File Allocation Table) of the floppy 56.This defect is required in order to transfer the key, which is stored inthe bad section identified by the floppy defect. As an added protection,the LBE (Logical Block Entry) of the bad sector of the floppy 56 also ispart of the key. Once the portable optical storage medium public key 72is matched with the floppy private key 74, the media asset becomesactive and accessible.

Once keys are placed in the table they allow decryption of the mediausing PGP (pretty good protection) or a similar dual drive 34 keyencryption system. The keys 72 on the portable optical storage media 72work with a number of similar keys 74 placed on the floppies. In thisway each floppy 56, even for the same media file, will have a uniquekey. The keys may be transferred to the original floppies 56 and removedfrom the hard disk 32. This process only allows original floppies to beused for removal of codes as the key is specific to that floppy.

Various prior art encryption systems for different uses are disclosed inU.S. Pat. Nos. 5,237,610 (Gammie et al.), 5,319,705 (Halter et al.),5,343,524 (Mu et al.), 5,379,433 (Yamagishi), 5,412,717 (Fischer),5,412,718 (Narasemhalu et al.), 5,416,850 (Cane et al.) and 5,440,631(Akiyama et al.).

A description of a preferred baseball interactive game 194 and itsvarious steps and options follows. Each Baseball Series disk containsstatistical information that is unique to the baseball personalitycontained on the floppy card. This unique statistical informationeffects how that player performs in a typical baseball game (i.e.,average RBI's, Batting averages, home runs, and so forth). The entireBaseball Game is contained on the companion portable optical storagemedium and the players are available to the user only as they have beencollected via the floppies. Any player collected on a card may be addedto a team file by clicking the "Add to Collection" button. Then via thedual encryption algorithm become available for play. Conversely, aplayer may be returned to the floppy and encrypted on the portableoptical storage media, thus making them available for trading with afriend. This key collection becomes a user's personalized All Star teamassembled and played against the computer portable optical storage mediabaseball game or with another collector's team via the on-line versionof the game. The trading card game is enhanced when a companion portableoptical storage media is used to facilitate the collection, allowing theplayers to compete. It is not necessary to have the portable opticalstorage media to participate in a collection series of baseball cards,as they may be viewed and collected as they appear on the floppy.

The interactive game 194 can be played by the user alone or on-line withanother computer system shown generally at 200 having a similar portableoptical storage media program, as depicted in FIG. 9. Shown therein isthe computer system of FIG. 1 and another similar computer system showngenerally at 30' operatively connected together via a telephone line 202and telephone modems 204 and 206 (see U.S. Pat. No 5,273,288 to Teshimaet al.). Instead of telephonic links, the connection between thecomputers can be any other available method, such as coaxial cable,fiber optics or wireless transmissions. Components of system 30'corresponding to those of system 30 are assigned the same referencenumeral followed by a prime designation.

Preferred collectible items of this invention are baseball cards, aspreviously described in detail. Of course, other items can be adaptedand collected, such as "cards" for other sports figures, for actors andactresses, or for historical figures. For example, one embodiment can bean educational game where the users collect and learn about formerUnited States Presidents. Another educational game can comprisecollecting former generals and admirals (possibly together with variousweapon systems) and the interactive game could reenact famous battles,using the collected soldiers and weapons, either against the computer oron-line (See FIG. 9) against a fellow collector.

Another collection game 194 involves collecting "monster parts" andassembling them with different attributes or powers. One of the monsterparts (or collection items) could be an "essence" card (or "live forcevial") which is the part needed to bring the assembled monster to life.The "essence" cards could be the more rare, that is, provided on fewerfloppies (56, 58, 60), and thus more desirable, valuable and tradable.With the monster assembled and brought to life and the interactive gameactuated, the player's (good) monster can be pitted against the game's(evil) monsters created by an evil doctor. The object of the game wouldbe to access the evil doctor's laboratory and shut off the power. Tohelp the user prevail some of the items collected from floppies can be"weapons," such as monster stitch desolver, iodine revealer forrevealing invisible evil monsters, gauze bandages for tying them up,golden daggers or things to increase the (good) monster's fightingcapabilities such as invisibility cartridges or power bolts providingflying powers.

An adult version of the present collection system can be a take-off ofthe old video arcade peepshows, with the collection items being(pictures of) attractive women. The content played from the floppy usingthe portable optical storage media game itself can be audio/visualdisplays of the collected ladies performing a striptease.

The Multimedia PC Marketing Council, Inc. has developed a second-levelmultimedia computer specification to encourage the adoption of enhancedmultimedia capabilities. This specification is a backwardly compatiblesuperset of the MPC Level 1 Specification, which continues in effect.This Specification defines the minimum system functionality for Level 2compliance but is not intended as a recommendation for a particularsystem configuration. The following minimum Multimedia PC Level 2 Systemrequirements are applicable to the present invention:

I. Hardware:

133 MH Pentium or compatible microprocessor

Eight megabytes of RAM (Eight megabytes recommended)

3.5" Floppy drive

Hard drive (160 MB minimum)

PCI Bus Master

PCI Video Card that supports Direct X (Direct Draw) at 16 bit color

Two button mouse

101 key Keyboard (or functional equivalent)

Optical storage drive backwards compatible to CD ROM and

CD Audio

Double-speed with CD-DA outputs (Capable of sustained 300 KB/sectransfer rate)

No more than 40% of the CPU bandwidth may be consumed when maintaining asustained transfer rate of 150 KB/sec

Average seek time of 400 milliseconds or less 10,000 hours MTBF

CD-ROM XA ready (mode 1 capable, mode 2 form 1 capable, mode 2 form 2capable)

Multisession capable

MSCDEX 2.2 driver or equivalent that implements the extended audio APIs

Subchannel Q support (P, R-W optional)

Audio board:

16-bit DAC, Linear PCM sampling; 44.1, 22.05, and 11.025 kHz rate,

DMA/FIFO buffered transfer capability

16-bit ADC, Linear PCM sampling; 44.1, 22.05, and 11.025 kHz rate,

DMA/FIFO buffered transfer capability; microphone input

Music synthesizer

On-board analog audio mixing capabilities

CD-ROM XA audio capability is recommended

Support for the ImA adopted ADPCM software algorithm is recommended

Serial port

Parallel port

MIDI I/O port

Joystick port

Headphones or speakers connected to the computer system

Air Mouse (which is a mouse that connects to a computer via an opticallight beam without any physical connection to the computer)

II. System Software:

Binary compatibility with Windows 3.0 plus Multimedia Extensions orWindows 3.1.

Optical Storage Sound Card Audio Cable Standard for MPC Components--Samecable standard as Level 1 (full systems upgrade kits are not required toobserve this specification).

To deter copying (in the event the algorithm codes are uncovered) thehouses or cases 210 of the floppies 56 are themselves made unique. Asshown in FIG. 7, each has a hologram 212 affixed thereto by adhesive andunique artwork with product names 214 on the front side and a uniqueserial number 216 printed on the back side as shown in FIG. 8. Thus, tohave the "bootleg" floppy identical to the genuine one, not only wouldthe code keys and programs need to be discovered and copied but also thehologram and serial number. Maximum collectibility, resale value andprotection of contents are thereby enhanced.

The floppy disks can be purchased through retail outlets or acquired bytrading with fellow collectors, or by an Internet download.Alternatively, the collector inserts a plain floppy disk into a kioskassembly (not shown) which transforms it into a disk usable herein, thatis, with the program and coded keys. He/She can choose on the kioskscreen via a main menu the coded keys to be added, or it can be a randomselection by the kiosk assembly. Preferably, he/she would first purchasea blank disk with the hologram and serial number on it. He/She wouldenter the serial number into the kiosk, insert the disk which wouldverify the serial number and write the algorithm, protect the disk andgive the corresponding software or the software he chooses.Alternatively, at least on a limited use basis, the collectible itemscan be dowloaded by the collector onto the hard drive from a portableoptical storage medium such as DIVEX platform.

A "card" or collection item collected can deposit its key 74 into thesystem file via the encryption/decryption algorithm to await theaddition of the companion portable optical storage media. This takes thechosen key out of circulation and leaves the remaining key (on thefloppy disk) for trading purposes. The cards collected individuallydeposit their key into the system file awaiting the next key insuccession to unlock its media. That key can be found on another floppyor the portable optical storage media. Floppy to floppy they are like astring of puzzle pieces, each floppy containing a portion of the entirepuzzle. Keys can be collected in any order. The programs can be run discto disc, floppy to floppy. As the portable optical storage mediumincreases its storage capacity, this invention can also be portableoptical storage to portable optical storage, transferring their keys inthe same manner as floppies to portable optical storage media.

The concepts of this invention can be adapted by those skilled in theart for use by equipment other than portable optical storagemedia--floppy disk computers. Examples of other equipment are gamecartridges and recently-commercialized memory cards used with HP laptopsfor example but having no spinning disk to conserve electricity, orembedded systems (so-called "smart devices" with embedded limited-usecomputer chips and operating systems).

Referring again to FIG. 1, another feature of the present inventionincludes communication with the internet or intranet as showngenerically at 220 via a network connection show generically at 224 tothe computer. The network connection 224 can include a modem, T1 hub orEthernet card. This allows the collector to download collectible itemsand enhancements, such as the previously-mentioned weapons, or skillattributes (e.g., enhancing the player's batting average) which wouldmake the collectibles more tradable. This also allows a connection toanother player, such as shown in FIG. 9, for trading and game playing.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,434,464 to Terasima et al shows a video entertainmentsystem with a CD ROM and a pair of separate computer systems. U.S. Pat.No. 5,112,051 to Darling et al. shows an interfacing device for acomputer game system. U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,280 to Wiedemer shows a perperson use system with video game programming.

From the foregoing detailed description, it will be evident that thereare a number of changes, adaptations and modifications of the presentinvention which come within the province of those skilled in the art.However, it is intended that all such variations not departing from thespirit of the invention be considered as within the scope thereof aslimited solely by the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-based collection system, comprising:acomputer system including a floppy disk drive, a hard drive, an opticalstorage drive, a user input and a display system; a program loaded intosaid computer system by an optical storage disc into said opticalstorage drive, said program including different locked first and secondcollection items; a first disk having a first coded key, said first diskafter being inserted into said disk drive being capable of unlocking,using said first coded key, said first collection item into said harddrive; and a second disk having a second coded key, said second diskafter being inserted into said disk drive being capable of unlocking,using said second coded key, said second collection item into said harddrive; wherein said first coded key after unlocking said firstcollection item is rendered inoperative and incapable of unlocking acorresponding first collection item in a similar program.
 2. Thecollection system of claim 1 wherein said program is capable, byactuation of said user input, after said first collection item has beenunlocked into said hard drive, of relocking said first collection itemrelative to said hard drive and rendering said first coded key of saidfirst disk operative and capable of again unlocking said firstcollection item.
 3. The collection system of claim 2 wherein said firstdisk with said first coded key operative allows said first collectionitem to be fully displayed on said display system and said first diskwith said first coded key inoperative is incapable of fully displayingsaid first collection item on said display system.
 4. The collectionsystem of claim 3 wherein said first collection item when prevented frombeing fully displayed is displayed with visually dimmer display thanwhen fully displayed.
 5. The collection system of claim 4 wherein saidcomputer system, said optical storage drive and said hard drive define,respectively, a first computer system, a first optical storage drive anda first hard drive; and further comprising a second computer systemincluding a second disk drive, a second hard drive, a second opticalstorage drive, a second user input, and a second display system, asecond program similar to said first program and in said second computersystem, and wherein said first disk with said first coded key havingbeen rendered operative can be inserted into said second disk drive tounlock using said first coded key a similar first collection item intosaid second hard drive.
 6. The collection system of claim 1 wherein saidsecond coded key after unlocking said second collection piece isrendered inoperative and incapable of unlocking a similar secondcollection piece in a similar program.
 7. The collection system of claim1 wherein said user input includes an infrared air mouse.
 8. Thecollection system of claim 1 wherein said first disk includes a firstdisk program, which includes said first coded key, and which whenactivated initiates a display, separate from said portable opticalstorage media program, on said display system, said display beingassociated with said first collection item.
 9. The collection system ofclaim 1 wherein said program includes a locked third collection itemdifferent from said first and second collection items, and said firstdisk includes a third coded key adapted to unlock said third collectionitem into said hard drive.
 10. The collection system of claim 1 whereinsaid first disk includes an identifier on its disk case.
 11. Thecollection system of claim 10 wherein said identifier is a hologram. 12.The collection system of claim 10 wherein said second disk includes adifferent identifier, different from said identifier of said first disk,on its disk case.
 13. The collection system of claim 12 wherein saididentifier and said different identifier comprise different serialnumbers.
 14. The collection system of claim 1 wherein said first andsecond items form part of a larger set of collection items included insaid program.
 15. The collection system of claim 1 wherein said userinput includes a mouse and a keyboard both operatively connected to saidhard drive.
 16. The collection system of claim 1 wherein said displaysystem includes a visual display monitor and at least one audio speaker,both operatively connected to said hard drive.
 17. The collection systemof claim 1 wherein said program includes first and secondencryption/decryption algorithms corresponding to said first and secondcollection items, said first coded key is associated with acomplementary first encryption/decryption complementary algorithm tosaid first encryption/decryption algorithm, and said second coded key isassociated with a complementary second encryption/decryptioncomplementary algorithm to said second encryption/decryption algorithm.18. The collection system of claim 1 wherein said program includes aninteractive computer game which a user can play using said user inputonly after said first and second collection items have been unlockedinto said hard drive.
 19. The collection system of claim 1 wherein saidfirst disk includes a third coded key, and further comprising a thirddisk containing said third coded key but not said first and second codedkeys.
 20. The collection system of claim 1 wherein said computer systemincludes network connectivity providing communication with at least oneother computer.
 21. A computer-based collection system, comprising:asmart device with an embedded system, said smart device having networkconnectivity; an optical storage drive; a disk drive; a program loadedinto said smart device by an optical storage disc inserted into saidoptical storage drive; said program including different locked first andsecond collection items; a first disk having a first coded key, saidfirst disk after being inserted into said disk drive being capable ofunlocking, using said first coded key, said first collection item intosaid smart device; and a second disk having a second coded key, saidsecond disk after being inserted into said disk drive being capable ofunlocking, using said second coded key, said second collection item intosaid smart device; wherein said first coded key after unlocking saidfirst collection piece is rendered inoperative and incapable ofunlocking a corresponding first collection item in a similar program.22. The collection system of claim 21 wherein said network connectivityis via a modem, T1 Hub or Ethernet card.
 23. The collection system of 21wherein collection items and/or enhancements can be downloaded via saidnetwork connectivity.
 24. A computer-based collection method, comprisingthe steps of:providing a computer system including a disk drive, a harddrive, an optical storage drive, a user input and a display system;providing a program loaded into said drive, the program includingdifferent locked first and second collection items; providing first andsecond disks having respective first and second coded keys; insertingthe first disk into the disk drive; instructing the computer system viathe user input to unlock the first collection item into the hard driveusing the first coded key of the inserted first disk; inserting thesecond disk into the disk drive; and instructing the computer system viathe user input to unlock the second collection item into the hard driveusing the second coded key of the inserted second disk.
 25. Thecollection method of claim 24 wherein the program includes aninteractive computer game which game can be played only after aspecified series of collection items, including at least the first andsecond collection items, have been unlocked into the hard drive usingrespective coded keys contained on disks; and playing the computer gameusing the user input.
 26. The collection method of claim 25 wherein saidplaying includes playing the computer game networked with anotherplayer.
 27. The collection method of claim 25 further comprisinginserting a third disk having therein a coded key into the disk drive;viewing on the display system a collection item associated with thecoded key of the third disk; and without rendering the coded keyinoperative, removing the third disk from the disk drive and trading itwith another person for at least a fourth disk having a coded keytherein.
 28. The collection method of claim 24 wherein saidfirst-mentioned instructing step renders the first coded key inoperativeand incapable of unlocking a similar first collection piece in a similarprogram.
 29. The collection method of claim 28 further comprising aftersaid first-mentioned instructing step, removing the first disk from thedisk drive, and thereafter inserting a disk having an inoperative firstcoded key into the disk drive, and instructing the computer system torelock the first collection item and render the inoperative first codedkey operative and capable of subsequently unlocking the first collectionitem.
 30. The collection method of claim 29 further comprising aftersaid rendering the first coded key operative, inserting the disk into adifferent computer system and unlocking a corresponding first collectionitem therein.
 31. The collection method of claim 24 further comprisingafter said second-mentioned instructing step, displaying the first andsecond collection items on the display system.
 32. The collection methodof claim 24 wherein said first-mentioned instructing step renders thefirst coded key inoperative and incapable of unlocking a similar firstcollection piece in a similar program.
 33. The collection method ofclaim 24 wherein said instructing steps use asymmetric encryption keys.34. The collection method of claim 24 wherein the optical storage driveis a DVD ROM drive and the program is a DVD ROM program.